Magnets
by EnglandBabe1997
Summary: Coda for the Miss Mystic Falls episode. No matter what happens, Elena and Damon are drawn to each other like magnets.
1. Elena

**I'm not sure whether this is going to be a two-shot, or a series of one-shots about the Miss Mystic Falls episode, because I loved that dance and I want to write so much about it... I only just got into the TV series, even though I read the books years ago, and I love it!**

**I hope you all like this :) Please read and review if you do x**

It's the simple intimacy of the near touch Carol Lockwood says and Elena restrains the urge to laugh when she puts it like that.

Because right now Damon is standing in for his brother, wherever Stefan is right now, and the electricity sizzling between them is almost visible to everyone around them.

Stefan is safe, comfortable. She knows she is safe in arms - or she was until recently. He is secure, which is exactly what she needed after the death of her parents and the turmoil that followed. He is what she'd needed to get herself living again, to go beyond being a zombie. He is _exactly _what she'd needed when she'd been first adjusting to the supernatural world and the realisation that things that go bump in the night really exist.

And she loves him for it. He is like a safety blanket, something to hold onto in the dark and someone who will protect her and shelter her, even if she doesn't actually like it.

But when she's with Damon it's like her heart is simmering with fire, a burning passion, and she knows that Damon feels the same. There is a connection there, a reason why she can always see behind the facade to the very best of him, even when his own brother fails. It's hard to imagine Damon softening his comments to spare someone else's feelings, but Elena knows he does, in his own way.

She doesn't know how she can always see the good in him, even after everything he's done to her. She remembers how he treated Caroline, the bite marks and bruises trailing up her back, and can't equate that with the man who kidnapped her and took her to Georgia simply because she and Stefan had run into relationship troubles and he thought she needed a break (and a drink).

When she thinks of Georgia she thinks of a different Damon, one who knows how to care, even if he won't admit to it. He might've had an ulterior motive, but Damon had done that for_ her_.

No one had ever done something like before.

And she can see that man in the eyes of the man she's dancing with. Dancing with Damon shouldn't feel like this, more charged than when she dances with her boyfriend, but there is electricity in the air when the two of them stand in the same foot of space.

They look into each other's eyes and stare into each other's souls, seeing behind the facade the other puts up. It worries her slightly how comfortable she feels in his arms whilst her boyfriend is out there somewhere, with a hunger for human blood.

It worries her how little she cares.

Because right now, in _Damon's_ arms, there's no place she'd rather be.

If Bonnie could read her mind right now she'd be horrified, and rightly so, but Elena doesn't really know what she's feeling, let alone how to stop it. Damon is like a tidal wave, pulling her in, and she's only along for the ride.

And, no matter how wrong it is, she thinks she's going to enjoy it.


	2. Damon

**I was meaning to write this ages ago, but I've had nine exams since last Monday so it kind of got put to the bottom of the list x I hope you like it and think I got Damon alright :) xx Please read and review!**

Damon honestly doesn't know what the hell he's doing here. He's the bad brother, the one that doesn't care about anything or anyone, the one that feeds on and sleeps with women on a whim, just because he wants to. He doesn't do nice - that's just not in him.

So why the hell is he doing _this_?

He's stepping in for Stefan. who is very noticeably not here, even as his girlfriend needs him. And he's doing this for _someone_ else. He's doing this for Elena.

What the hell is happening to him in this town?

It's changing him into something he's not - something he doesn't _want_ to be.

And it's not this town, not really. It's Elena. Elena who can somehow see through all the masks he's had up for decades, can see the person underneath, the humanity left in this vampire no matter how hard he tries to suppress it.

So he figures he owes her one. She tries to make sure he isn't killed (see Georgia) and she also tries to plead his cases with the others, most of the time (and on the other occasions even he will admit to being wrong).

This is just helping a friend out, no matter how strange it is to claim a human as a friend, or be claiming to help them out anywhere but the bedroom.

But that doesn't account for the fire he can feel between them. They aren't even touching and Damon already feels more alive than he has in centuries.

They aren't touching but he can feel something, drawing them together, and if he gets much closer he thinks he'll never let go, damn what Stefan thinks about it.

If Stefan had a problem with it, then he should've been there (though he really should go looking for his brother soon, a vampire with control issues is not a pretty sight, _especially_ when it's Stefan - most of the people here are rather attached to their heads, as opposed to after Stefan has finished with them).

And as it is, he isn't, so Damon will do what he likes with Elena. Stefan won't hold her forever - he knows that, remembering the girl he'd met outside a party at a time she can't remember. Elena is comfortable with safe now, but it won't be enough to keep her, not for eternity, and he knows that she is drawn to him.

He already knows that he won't treat her like he does the other women, like her friend Caroline. He's not even sure why - maybe it's because she looks like Katherine (no, that's not it), or maybe it's because she's really not the worst company in the world. And believe him, he would know.

He looks into her eyes and it is uniquely Elena, with none of the coldness of Katherine, none of her seduction, and all of her fire. Elena is herself, and it's strange how he's the one Salvatore brother that never seems to have confused that.

Their gazes lock and then they are touching and Damon thinks he'll stake anyone that tries to make him let her go. This started off as a game but it's become much more than that and the stakes are so high that he can't afford to lose.

He smiles, a tiny tug of his lips (not smirks, though he wants to, when he hears her heart stutter).

And then he lets her go, the dance ending.

Because it doesn't matter.

They'll be drawn back together in the end.


	3. Jenna

**I know this is in a different tense, which I'm sorry for, but I'd already written most of it before I realised xx PLEASE review xx Just one...**

Jenna had had her fair share of bad guys, and she could tell one from a mile off, so she'd always known what Damon Salvatore was. She'd also had her heart broken by most of them and know that's all Damon would be able to do as well.

And something unsettled her when he looked at her niece. It wasn't that she was freaked out or anything (though she had been at first), just that he looked at her with an intensity that was unnatural. He looked at her like he wanted to devour her, like once he had her he would never let her go and he was going to chase her until he had her.

Sometimes Jenna wondered what he wanted with Elena, before shying away from the thought. He was an adult male, she knew exactly what he wanted and didn't want to think about _that_ concerning her niece.

It's bad enough that she's now supposed to be the responsible adult.

Either way, it seemed that Damon Salvatore couldn't play the bad guy all of the time - right now he'd stepped in for Stefan, who was somewhere that _wasn't_ here, something Jenna would kill him for later.

And it seemed like he'd done it for Elena.

Elena seemed to bring out the best in everyone.

Right now the pair of them were dancing and without even touching Jenna could see the sparks coming off them. They were in their own private world, somewhere far away from Mystic Falls, and only inhabited by the two of them.

It was like a train wreck, hating to watch but not wanting to look away.

Jenna could feel the panic rise up in her at the image, Elena and her boyfriend's brother, and how _right_ it looked.

She was sure her nails were digging into Alaric's arm, but right now she didn't care. She tried to look away but was immediately drawn back to the sight, to the accident occurring right in front of her.

She would never be able to look at Elena with Stefan in the same way again, not after this. In fact, if it weren't for her own experience with boys like Damon she would encourage her niece to go for it, boyfriend's brother aside.

But Damon was dangerous and Elena was young.

And somehow they fit like nothing she'd ever seen before.

And neither Elena nor Damon seemed to realise their audience existed.


	4. Alaric

**I hope you like this fourth bit, I might write a couple more POV's x Depends on the feedback I get (thanks Guest for my first review) x Please read and reivew!**

Alaric doesn't really know how this started to happen. He'd come here to find the vampire that had killed his wife, only to find out that Isobel had not in fact been killed, but instead turned.

And she'd _wanted_ it.

He doesn't quite know what to do with that information. Who would want to willingly become a vampire? Since becoming a Hunter he's seen the things they are capable of and he doesn't understand why anyone would want that for themselves.

And not so long after he'd teamed up with Damon, said vampire that had turned his wife into one of them. He still didn't quite know why he'd done that.

To be honest, Damon wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting. He'd expected someone far more _evil_, not that Damon didn't put on a good show. But right now, watching Damon dance with the girl who could've been his daughter, he can't believe that.

All he can see is Damon, putting his hands perilously close to Elena, where he could flick his wrists in less than a second and snap her neck or move in a few seconds more and leave her drained on the ground.

But for some reason something is telling him that Damon won't do that. For some reason he knows that Elena is safe with Damon and perhaps it's the way that he's looking at her right now, like she's the only person in the room - like she's the only person that matters.

Isn't that a disturbing thought?

But it's true, and if Ric didn't know that she was dating Stefan (who is currently AWOL, which never bodes good) then he would think she was with Damon.

And he doesn't know what to think about that. Looking at them now Elena and Damon seem to fit in a way that he can't describe but is obvious to anyone watching them dance now. They haven't taken their eyes off each other since she'd appeared at the top of the staircase and he'd stepped in for Stefan.

And to be honest Elena hadn't looked upset at the change in brothers for long.

Ric can almost see the sparks flying off them and it's not really something he enjoys seeing. In another world Elena is his daughter and even if this vampire isn't as bad as he first thought he's still a vampire.

Not that Elena seems to care.

So when Jenna asks him what's going on he answers truthfully.

He doesn't have a clue.


	5. Bonnie

**Here's the next one - they seem to be getting shorter... I suppose that's because I can only write about how bad Damon is so many times xx**

Bonnie honestly doesn't know what the _hell_ she's supposed to do with this sight in front of her. Damon and Elena are dancing, as though there is no one else in the world, no one else that matters.

Has she been compelled?

Bonnie can't feel it, and something about the pair of them tells her that she's not.

Which just makes the sight even more horrifying - Elena is willingly in his arms, in the arms of a man who's already done far too much to her and this town. Isobel. Vicki. Her _grandmother_.

Her grandmother, dead, because he wanted to let another vampire loose on his town. He'd wanted to endanger the rest of them.

And he had, the rest of the tomb vampires escaping, and all that was left to show for it was her grandmother's body.

Bonnie will never be able to forgive him for that and even now she squashes down the impulse to give him a headache he'll never forget, for doing this to her and for doing this to Elena.

But something stops her.

She doesn't know what.

Maybe she doesn't want to make a scene, get people to ask awkward questions.

Maybe it's how relaxed Elena looks, after these last few weeks of pain and terror, she looks utterly comfortable in Damon's arm and as much as Bonnie would like to rip the two of them apart, Elena's her best friend, even if they're not quite on speaking terms at the minute.

She can't do that to her (even if she wants to).

What's even stranger is that there's nothing about the picture (other than the vampire) that's wrong. He looks at like she's the world and she trusts him completely.

Something heavy rises in her throat, horror and maybe sadness.

Because she's never known Elena to change her mind, not even when it came to which Barbie doll she wanted for Christmas, and her head might not know it yet, but it's obvious that she's already chosen Damon.


	6. Caroline

**And here's Caroline... I hope you like it xx**

To be honest, it kind of ruined her evening, even though she won Miss Mystic Falls at the end of the evening.

Because Elena still won the guy in the end.

Sure, she had Stefan, but Caroline had been with Damon. She had won the other brother.

She'd gotten one over Elena.

Only it hadn't been like the fairytale she'd dreamed - she couldn't remember much, it was so long ago she thought, but she remembered the cruelty of his words and the coldness of his kisses.

And right now he and Elena could set the world on fire.

They're dancing, to their own little tune, or maybe it's actually the music. Caroline can't tell over the roaring in her ears.

Because Damon was supposed to be the one boy she had that Elena hadn't touched. She's already had Matt and now she's sinking her fingers into Damon's hands like she's not dating his brother. Now that they're actually allowed to touch you could barely slide a sheet of paper between them, pressing up against each other. he heat in their eyes tells Caroline that if they don't stop dancing soon they'll both have to be arrested for public indecency.

And Elena's never been that kind of girl.

But Damon's never been the kind of man to act like this either. He doesn't do emotion, actual feeling, just mindless sex.

He's looking at Elena like he wants to devour her, and never let her go. Like she's the only thing in the world that matters to him.

Caroline wishes she knew what that felt like.


	7. Matt

**Here's Matt, another one who doesn't know about their whole struggle with vampires, which makes it really interesting to write xx :)**

He really doesn't know what the hell is going on with Elena.

She's changed so much since her parents death and since she broke up with him, though the most change is only credited to the first. Sometimes he thinks he barely knows her anymore, with a different look in her eyes. It's similar to the loss of innocence, but she'd already lost that when her parents had gone off Wickery Bridge.

This is more like losing hope, losing faith.

Most of the time she looks like she's given up on the world, and humanity. It scares him because Elena's always been so full of life, so ready to party, and her most used expression these days would not look unwelcome at the funeral.

Except now. Now she looks alive and happy and Matt would honestly be glad to see her smile if she was with pretty much anyone but Damon Salvatore.

Matt really doesn't get what it is about the older man that the girls find so attractive. The man is nearly always in the Grill and not half as charming as he looks.

Except, apparently, to Elena.

Which is really wrong (and more like Damon) because Elena is actually his brother's girlfriend, a fact neither of them seem to be well grasping at the moment.

Matt just sighs though. They broke up and he has no say in her life anymore.

But he really would like to know what the hell was going on with the Salvatore brothers. He supposes everyone would.

Perhaps even Elena.

(It's very obvious to everyone exactly what Damon's thinking right now.)


	8. Jeremy

**This one's a little different in its content, more focussed on the entire dynamic but Jeremy has the added advantage of having the actual insight of Elena's thoughts xx Please read and review to tell me if you like it!**

It's times like this that he really wishes that he hadn't read Elena's diary. They say that ignorance is bliss and it's true, not just another of those meaningless platitudes.

Because if he hadn't have read Elena's diary then he would know about vampires or curses or tombs. He would have continued to think that Vicki had happily skipped town and nothing went bump in the darkness of the night. He knows that she was only thinking of him when she asked for Damon to compel him and he knows that for sure - he's read her innermost thoughts on the situation. And he almost wishes he didn't know. He wouldn't have known anything about the vampire that was an exact replica of the sister that was actually not his sister, with a vampire for a mother.

He wouldn't know about her feelings for Damon.

But he did read her diary and that's why he's so worried - because he's read everything that she knows about Katherine and the love triangle between her and the Salvatore brothers and Jeremy can't help but see the similarities for himself.

He knows about Katherine's selfishness, how she'd toyed with both brothers and faked her own death in order to escape them, and comforts himself with that knowledge because he knows that Elena would never think of doing that for herself, only for other people. Elena is selfless, most of the time, to the point where it's detrimental to her health, like when she attempts to comfort bloodthirsty vampires.

But it's hard to remember that right now, because as selfless as Elena is, Jeremy is starting to think he's stepped back in time, back to the nineteenth century and ball gowns and balls and Damon and Katherine and all the feelings that were wholly human like lust and love and jealousy. He wonders at how the tension between two people can be so visible, when they aren't even touching.

He wonders if Elena will be selfless enough to remember that this has happened before, to remember Stefan.

He knows that she almost certainly will and his heart aches just a bit, because Elena has been so selfless, even when she doesn't need to be, even when it hurts her.

And as much as he loathes Damon Salvatore he wishes that Elena would stop being selfless and instead be selfish.

Jeremy realises then that she could never be Katherine, even if she tried.


	9. Stefan

**I've decided to try Stefan as well... Is there anyone else anyone wants to see?**

Stefan doesn't hear about it until later - he's too busy split between trying to drain someone and trying to get himself back on animal blood, neither of which aims are going particularly well.

But in a town as small as Mystic Falls then it was going to get around sometime - Elena Gilbert, tragedy survivor, dancing in the arms of dark, dangerous and mysterious Damon Salvatore, coincidentally the brother of her boyfriend, and looking _happy_ to be there.

Even Salvatore had been reported to be looking happy, something that didn't happen often, even with the number of girls that paraded in and out of the Salvatore mansion.

And it made Stefan sick.

Because he'd managed to get a hand on one of the recordings of the event, from the father of another contestant running for Miss Mystic Falls, and the camera had captured the look in both Damon's and Elena's eyes perfectly.

Stefan hadn't seen Damon look like that since Katherine, the first time round, and Elena had never looked at him like that.

The two of them were twirling in a circle, like they were defining the boundaries of their own private bubble, exclusive to only the two of them, drowning out the rest of the world and Katherine and even out of control Stefan, and forgetting about their troubles whilst it was just the pair of them.

It's happening again, no matter how much he tries to stop it. It seems like it's the doppelgangers' problem to get involved in every love triangle possible, no matter that Stefan refuses to let the entire episode with Katherine repeat itself.

He thought it would be easy. After all, Elena was nothing like Katherine, with none of the manipulation, wiles and years as a vampire under her belt. What did she have to entice Damon?

But apparently her face was enough and Stefan can already see the future unfolding before him, like he was that sparkling vampire Alice Cullen.

There is no other way for this to go.

And all of them are going to have their hearts broken in the end.


	10. Anna

**I decided that I'd do Anna. as someone with a more unbiased view of Damon and Katherine's romance, unlike Stefan xx**

She almost laughs when she hears about it. This is just history repeating itself, with people too stupid to even attempt to stop it. Elena is only a teenager, so Anna's supposes that she can be excused, but Damon's well over a hundred. He should've learnt better by now.

Nothing good comes from love.

All if got him in the first place was a broken heart and immortality with the brother he loved to hate. It had brought him eternity of misery and hating himself, because no matter how good he's become at hiding it, she once saw beyond the mask to the kind and innocent human he had once been. No one can completely remake themselves like that, no matter how hard they try.

Instead he's just pretending that he doesn't care, like it doesn't matter what he's become because of love.

But if Damon Salvatore wants to re-enact his long-gone romance with Katherine Pierce with her doppelganger (also conveniently Stefan's girlfriend) then she won't bother to intervene.

She's known Damon for a long time now and she knows better than to think anything she says will change his mind.


End file.
